Welcome to the History Corner!
Celebrating the rich history of Port Byron, New York, an old Erie Canal village in the Town of Mentz. This site is dedicated to the legacy and heritage of our community as well as a variety of regional historical tidbits. I hope you enjoy your visit and will stop by again.

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Tanner Dry Dock

A request was received asking for the location of the Tanner dry dock.  Here is a snippet view from the Cayuga Genweb 1875 map that shows where it was located.



The following map is from 1904


Compare the above to Google and you will see changes and the re-appearance of James St, but don't be fooled by the map, the street signs are labled W Dock Street at both ends (not James).  You will also see slight changes to Rochester St as well.

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0367259,-76.633878,17z


Sunday, April 27, 2014

The Pennsylvania Rookers

Introducing a new branch of the Whitehall, NY Rooker family. The discovery was made when Dawn Roe and her sister traveled to Washington County and discovered a land deed of Jesse Rooker Jr of Ohio owning land in Whitehall. The search lead to Jesse Rooker Sr of PA whose death record indicated he was born in Whitehall, VT, which is a common error in records for Whitehall since it is located very close to the Vermont border.  Dawn then searched to see if she could find a living descendant, which resulted in meeting F. Bruce Rooker who authored this history.
 

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Military Recognition

I am pleased to share that with the confirmation of receiving registered historian status with New York State, enclosed was a welcomed surprised.  In 2012, I also received the Joseph Meany Award in recognition of my military project honoring Captain John Lockwood.  This recognition is very meaningful to me, as much of my work centered around the veterans in this community.


I would like to thank NY State Historian Robert Weible and the Association of Public Historians of New York State for acknowledging the significant work completed while serving as a local historian.